


Imposter

by orphan_account



Category: RPF - Fandom, Real Person Fiction, Unus Annus - Fandom, markiplier - Fandom
Genre: Alternate Universe - No Girlfriends/No Wives, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Character Study, Ethan Nestor needs a hug, Hurt/Comfort, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, M/M, Some Plot, Some Romance, Temporary Character Death, Unus and Annus use neopronouns, because I said so, its not the main focus tho - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-16
Updated: 2020-09-16
Packaged: 2021-03-06 22:14:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,606
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26496217
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Suddenly, he found his gaze focused on something- or rather, someone, who was looming over him in a pure white suit. If Mark’s brain wasn’t so fuzzy, so oxygen-deprived, it would have registered that the figure above him looked almost identical to himself.“We can’t save you,” the figure said, as Mark’s eyes closed for a final time. “But we can fix this. Rest.”Darkness enveloped Mark, and the world around him slipped away, leaving nothing but inky blackness, and silence.-OR-Mark dies in the tent in that one Camp Unus Annus video. Annus takes his place, and tries to work out how to get him back.
Relationships: Mark Fischbach/Ethan Nestor, Unus/Annus
Comments: 11
Kudos: 151





	Imposter

**Author's Note:**

> this is a mash of headcanons and character study whoops

There was no oxygen, no way for him to breathe, only plastic pressing in around him. He tried to gasp for air, desperate to breathe, clawing at the tent around him.

“Ethan!” he managed weakly, but he knew the other wouldn’t hear him, much less take him seriously. Mark’s vision edged with black, and part of him dimly registered that this was a really, really stupid way to die. 

He found that he didn’t have the strength to claw and push at the tent anymore, couldn’t bring himself to try and find the exit Ethan had tore earlier. He found himself laying on his back, gaze going in and out of focus, his fingertips growing numb.

Suddenly, he found his gaze focused on something- or rather, some _ one _ , who was looming over him in a pure white suit. If Mark’s brain wasn’t so fuzzy, so oxygen-deprived, it would have registered that the figure above him looked almost identical to himself. 

“We can’t save you,” the figure said, as Mark’s eyes closed for a final time. “But we can fix this. Rest.”

Darkness enveloped Mark, and the world around him slipped away, leaving nothing but inky blackness, and silence.

*****

Annus wished xe had more time. More time to treat Mark’s body with the care that he deserved, more time to think of a better solution, but Ethan was coming back, and there was only one thing xe could do. 

Xe leaned down, pressing xis hand to Mark’s shoulder; with no time xim to mutter so much as an apology, Mark’s body was gone. Annus’ suit was also gone, replaced with the Camp Unus Annus shirt and shorts that Mark had been wearing when he died. 

Annus turned and pressed xis hand to the camera; a small beep told xim that xe’d successfully corrupted the footage that showed Mark’s death, and Annus taking his place. Then, with a deep breath, Annus stepped out of the tent.

Xe was greeted by Ethan smiling warmly at him, holding up his hand for a high five; Annus smiled back with an easy grin, giving Ethan the high five he was looking for.

“Another video done, dude!”

Annus said nothing, knowing xe didn’t need to, and silently prayed that xe knew enough about how Mark acted to properly take his place for the time being.

*****

Unus was concerned, to say the least. Ze trusted Annus with all of zis being, but Ethan? Ethan was smarter than he let on, and if Annus slipped up even the tiniest bit, it could all be over before either of them had had a chance to right things. 

It how ze found zimself outside the window as Ethan and Annus filmed a video; ze pressed zis hands against the glass, looking in, as Annus perfectly slipped into Mark’s role. From what Unus could tell, Ethan had no idea that Annus wasn’t Mark.

Ze let out a small breath of relief, and backed away from the window. Everything would be fine; all ze had to do was get Mark back before anything worse happened.

*****

It was the little things that made Ethan begin to wonder. It was the way Mark seemed a little tense at all times, or the way he smiled just a little  _ too  _ wide. He’d throw himself into the videos and get so into their stupid jokes that Ethan almost could forget his doubts, and ignore the way Mark didn’t fidget as much as usual.

Between filming, Ethan found that he couldn’t ignore the signs. Something was definitely up with Mark, but he didn’t know  _ what,  _ helpless to just sit and wonder and think. 

That night, right before they all went to bed, Ethan stopped Mark, pulling him aside. In that moment, Mark looked tenser than ever, and Ethan was even more certain that  _ something  _ was up.

“What’s going on with you?” Ethan kept his voice quiet, so as not to alert the others in the house. “You’re more tense than usual.”

“Just tired,” Mark replied, and his tone was so genuine that Ethan couldn’t bring himself to voice his doubts. 

“Get more rest man,” was all Ethan managed to say, and then Mark was gone, and Ethan was left standing by himself, more confused than he’d been moments before.

*****

Darkness. Silence. Stillness. Peace. Mark knew nothing, had no thoughts, no dreams. All he knew was rest, and calm.

*****

Ethan was onto xim. If Annus couldn’t figure out how to ease his doubts, or Unus couldn’t get Mark back, they’d all be in a heap of shit. 

Annus wished xe didn’t have to leave the task of getting Mark back entirely up to Unus; Annus was stronger than Unus when it came to tasks like this, and xe wanted so badly to be in charge of this. Xe was sure xe could have gotten Mark back within a few hours; it had been two days, and Unus didn’t seem to have made any progress.

But Annus knew xe had to be the one to take Mark’s place; xe was the one that resembled Mark, not Unus. So all xe could do was hope Ethan believed xis lies; that xe was tired, or wasn’t feeling great that day, or had a headache. 

At night was when Annus met with Unus, to check on zis progress; every time, xis questions were met with a small, sad shake of Unus’ head. The days passed in slow, mundane minutes between filming; with every second, Annus could feel ximself grow more tense, more stressed.

Unus needed to get Mark back, and ze needed to get him back  _ now. _

*****

Unus found zimself crying more often than not. The stress and worry got to zim far too often, breaking zis focus on the task at hand. Ze missed Annus so much it hurt, and zis anxiety would skyrocket anytime Ethan gave Annus so much as a sceptical glance. 

Ze knew ze wasn’t as good at this side of things as Annus; sure, ze knew how to hide zimself from people, and how to retreat into the void, but beyond that, zis powers were really, really weak. All ze could do was keep trying, though.

Ze would try, and ze would succeed, or else they were all doomed.

*****

“Who are you?” Ethan had Mark cornered, and he really hadn’t thought before speaking, but it was the most sense he could make of what was going on. Someone had to have taken Mark’s place to be acting  _ this  _ strangely.

“What do you mean?” Mark gave a nervous chuckle, eyes shifting to the side for a second. “I’m me. Who else would I be?”

“Either something is really wrong, or you’ve been replaced by someone else,” Ethan said, praying that it was just the first option and that he wasn’t dealing with something far worse than his friend just dealing with a problem. 

Mark let out a long sigh, then his gaze met Ethan’s. “I knew I ran this risk from the start. You’re smarter than you let on.”

It felt like all the breath had been knocked from Ethan’s lungs. Mark-who-wasn’t-Mark snapped his fingers, and suddenly he was wearing a white suit, and Ethan felt compelled to call him  _ anything  _ but gendered terms.

“I hoped I wouldn’t have to reveal myself,” the figure said, extending a hand towards Ethan to offer a handshake. “Annus. Xe/Xim.”

Ethan exhaled shakily, taking the outstretched hand and making a mental note of the pronouns Annus had offered. “Ethan. He/Him, though I think you already know that.”

Annus chuckled slightly, and now Ethan was able to note how different xe truly was to Mark. Xe held himself more formally, more carefully, and spoke far more eloquently than Mark ever had.

“We’re doing the best we can,” Annus said after a moment. “To get him back. No doubt it’ll be easier now that I can help zim rather than trying to keep up this act.”

“Hold up.” Ethan’s head spun from the cryptic information. “Who are you going to help? What do you mean get him back?”

“Unus,” Annus said smoothly, fixing xis tie. “Ze’s been trying to get Mark back for about a week now.”

There was a horrible sinking feeling in Ethan’s chest; he knew what Annus was going to say before xe even said it.

“Ethan, I’m sorry to have to inform you that Mark died in that tent last week.”

*****

Static. Quiet words. His name being called. A feeling like he was underwater. Darkness. Silence. 

Mark couldn’t move, but he was starting to be aware. The darkness and silence started to feel less calm, and anytime he heard the static and soft voice, he ached to reach for it.

Calm. Quiet.

His consciousness slipped away again, leaving him in the state of liquid-like calm again.

*****

Annus wished xe knew how to console humans, or even knew how to properly empathise, or  _ anything _ . Instead, xe found all xe could do was stand and watch as Ethan dropped to his knees, looking very much like someone had kicked him in the chest and stolen his puppy.

Ethan didn’t speak, nor did he cry, but Annus could feel the waves of anguish radiating off of him. It was almost overwhelming, and it took all of Annus’ willpower to not to take a pace back. 

Xe turned as xe felt another presence in the room; xe was met with the sight of Unus standing in the doorway, face twisted into an expression of pain. It had been so easy for Annus to forget that xe and Unus were connected emotionally to their respective semi-hosts, and that Unus would no doubt be feeling Ethan’s pain right that moment.

Annus reached a hand towards Unus, who took it, and suddenly emotions, thick and heavy and  _ painful  _ were running through Annus, making xis chest tighten and xis eyes feel wet. Xe couldn’t breathe; the pain was so intense that xe almost let go of Unus’ hand.

But xe couldn’t do that, couldn’t let zim bear feeling Ethan’s pain alone. If this was only half of what Ethan was feeling, Annus could hardly imagine how it had felt before xe had taken Unus’ hand. 

So xe stood there, taking half of the pain, chin up, and waited for Ethan to recover enough that xe and Unus could work on getting Mark back.

*****

Unus had felt pain before from Ethan, but never like this. The second that the pain seemed to ease, to a manageable state, ze retreated into the void; Annus had everything under control for now. 

Unus needed a break.

*****

Ethan was surprised he didn’t cry. Everything hurt, every part of him aching with grief. Annus had said xe would bring Mark back, but Ethan still mourned. How could he not? His friend had  _ died _ and he didn’t even know.

  
  


Finally, he managed to pull himself together enough to get back to his feet, to meet Annus’ gaze. He pointedly ignored how much xe looked like Mark, and the way that made his heart ache.

“How do we get him back?”

“Unus has been trying all week,” Annus said, echoing what xe’d said earlier. “From what ze said ze’s tried… It might take more than our powers to bring Mark back.”

“More than your powers?” Ethan could feel Annus’ gaze boring into him. “Like what?”

“A sacrifice,” xe said, and Ethan’s blood ran cold.

“W-what kind of sacrifice?”

Annus let out a small laugh. “Don’t look so terrified, we’re pretty sure it would just need a little bit of human blood.”

“That’s still kind of terrifying,” Ethan replied, but he felt bolder now. A little blood was nothing if it meant he could get his friend back.

Annus held out a hand towards Ethan. “Care for a trip to the void?”

*****

Static. Muffled voices. Someone hissing with pain.

Blood droplets. Voices, growing louder. Familiar voices.

Mark felt the urge to frown, but he couldn’t move. Nothing felt peaceful anymore. He felt as if someone was pulling at him, urging him to get up, but his brain was fuzzy.

More static. More blood droplets. Voices, louder still.

Mark’s fingers twitched. His mouth twisted into a frown. His eyebrows furrowed.

Everything in him was screaming to open his eyes. The static was so loud, but even louder was one, single voice; Mark was sure he recognised it. Finally, he managed to drag his eyes open.

At the sight before him, Mark could have cried. His voice rasped from disuse as he spoke.

“Ethan?”

*****

Annus stepped back as Mark started to move. Xe reached xis hand towards Unus. Their work was done.

*****

Unus took Annus’ outstretched hand. Ze gave it a gentle squeeze, and Annus smiled at zim, and then the two turned to return to the void, leaving Ethan and Mark alone.

*****

Ethan dropped to his knees beside Mark the second that he spoke, tears pricking at his eyes. Annus and Unus had really brought Mark back; he hadn’t even thanked them yet. Ethan looked up, trying to spot the entities, but they were gone.

His attention turned back to Mark as the other man sat up, reaching for him; Ethan gripped onto Mark’s hand so hard his knuckles turned white. For a moment, he forgot the pain from the cut on his other hand.

“Mark,” was all he managed, leaning forward with a weak laugh to drop his head onto the other man’s shoulder. Mark’s free hand came up to Ethan’s shoulder, gripping tightly.

“I died, didn’t I?” Mark’s voice was quiet, and Ethan pressed his forehead harder against Mark’s shoulder. Mark exhaled shakily, and his breath tickled the side of Ethan’s neck.

It was then that Ethan broke, tears falling freely and not seeming to stop. He felt Mark rub small circles into his shoulder, and after a while, it was enough to ground him again, to stop him crying, to let him lift his head to meet Mark’s gaze.

“D-Don’t you  _ ever  _ d-die again,” Ethan managed shakily, and Mark let out a small laugh. 

“Noted.” His gaze then fell upon Ethan’s other hand, and the cut across his palm. Ethan followed his gaze.

“Blood ritual,” he said before Mark could ask, with a small smile. “It’s how they got you back.”

“You willingly got injured?  _ You _ ?”

“For you? Yeah.”

*****

It was about half an hour later, after Ethan had explained everything to him, that Mark finally felt like the fuzzy feeling in his mind had cleared. Ethan seemed hesitant to leave his side, and Mark didn’t complain when Ethan stood close enough their arms brushed, or when he would reach out to brush his fingers against Mark’s shoulder, as if he was confirming he was really there.

“I’m meant to be filming,” Ethan said out of nowhere. “But I don’t know if I…”

“Fuck filming.” Mark stretched a hand towards Ethan, who didn’t hesitate to take it. “I just came back from the dead, I think I deserve at least  _ one  _ Ethan Nestor hug.”

Ethan laughed, and let Mark pull him into a tight embrace. On impulse, Mark pressed a soft kiss to the top of Ethan’s head. After a moment, Ethan drew back; not enough to pull completely out of Mark’s hold, but enough to look up at him.

“You missed.”

“What?” Mark blinked. Ethan’s gaze flicked from Mark’s eyes to his lips, then back up. Mark took the hint, and leaned in.

  
  


*****

In the void, two entities in suits drew back from a gentle kiss. They laughed, meeting each other’s gazes, and then leaned back in again, ready to hold each other for the rest of eternity.


End file.
